The Suite

Four services built for one purpose

Copyright Nexus is a suite of research services designed to help librarians, archivists, and digital collections managers determine copyright status accurately, without needing dedicated legal staff. Each service is designed for differnt workflows and needs.

Open CompassOur Approach

Copyright Compass

Describe any work in plain language and Compass determines copyright status using AI-powered reasoning across multiple renewal databases and copyright law sources.

Every determination includes a confidence level, the legal basis for the decision, specific reserach steps for futher verification, and a recommended RightsStatements.org designation.

✓Checks Stanford, NYPL, and USCO renewal databases
✓Returns RightsStatements.org URI with every answer
✓Flags URAA caveats for foreign works automatically
✓Covers published, unpublished, and government works
Copyright Compass
What is the status of unpublished letters from someone who died in 1948?
Public DomainHigh
Unpublished personal correspondence
COPYRIGHT STATUS — Public Domain. Unpublished works by authors who died in 1948 entered the public domain on January 1, 2019 under the life-plus-70 rule. No renewal check is required for unpublished works.
Recommended Rights Statement
NoC-US — No Copyright · United States
Ask about a work, publication era, or collection…
Copyright Navigator

Step 2 of 5

When was this work published?

Use the date of first publication, not creation or copyright registration.

Before 1930
1930 – 1963
1964 – 1977
1978 or later

Copyright Navigator

Step-by-step decision tree for professionals who prefer a guided workflow. Navigator walks you through the copyright determination logic one question at a time.

Well-suited for training, batch workflows, or situations where you want to document your decision process step by step.

✓No ambiguity. Answer guides questions.
✓Covers all major copyright scenarios and periods
✓Produces a recommended rights statement at each endpoint

In Development

Two more services are on the way

Coming Soon

Copyright History

Look up the full copyright lifecycle for a title or author. Search renewal records, registration dates, and expiration years across the Stanford, NYPL, and USCO databases from a single interface.

✓Title and author search across all renewal databases
✓Full lifecycle: registration, renewal, expiration
✓Export-ready results for collection management

Python lookup script is complete. Web UI is in development.

Coming Soon

Rights Scan

Submit a URL from an Islandora or OAI-PMH digital collection and Rights Scan retrieves the metadata and runs a copyright determination automatically.

✓Batch processing for digital collection URLs
✓Metadata fetch plus automated rights determination
✓CONTENTdm and Internet Archive support planned

Backend development underway. Islandora/OAI-PMH support first.